


Return to Alfheim

by Melodyisfluffy



Category: Sword Art Online
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-12 13:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7936855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melodyisfluffy/pseuds/Melodyisfluffy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yui has always had strange powers, powers no one else she's ever met has. Knowing that her mother is keeping something from her, she embarks on an adventure to find out more about herself. As she uncovers more secrets, she grows more curious about her absentee father, whom she has never met before. Eventually, she discoverers a magical world, a world she had only heard about in the bedtime stories her mother had told her. AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This is obviously a Sword Art Online fanfic, so if you haven't seen the anime or read the light novels, you might get confused about some of the things in here. This is a AU story, so Alfheim will be a real place, not in game. Alfheim and the human world will be separated by a portal, that will be explained more later. This story will be told from Yui's point of view, and will feature a lot of her mom, Asuna, as well. Kirito will have a very minor focus ar first, but will show up later. I'm writing this from my iPod touch, so the formating might be weird, so apologies for that. Asuna will be human in this story, so Yui will be half and half. Yui will be their biological daughter, not virtual, as the games don't exist here. If you have any questions or recommendations, that would be good. Thanks for reading.

Yui's curiosity

Yui looked as the rain fell from her bedroom window. The drops made streaks across the glass, and the fence in the background was blurred by the heavy downpour. The sky had took on a foreboding gray color, making the time appear much later than it was, and the large clouds looked ominous, hanging warningly above her house. Still, it was her favorite type of weather, as long as there was no thunder to be heard. The thunder was what scared her.

The rain, falling heavily, made a comforting thunk! as it hit her window. It reminded her of when she was younger, and how she used to be scared of it, and the way her mom would always cuddle and comfort her through the loud thunderstorms. Eventually, she had grown out of her fear of the rain, but still kept her fear of the thunder. Now, the rain by itself reminded her of her moms comforting scent and soft hair.

Yui thought back to an earlier time, when she was about six, and the story her mother had told her. The rain had been hammering outside, and there was a faint sound of thunder in the distance. The sky had been a midnight black, and there were hardly any stars visible, only a few prickles of light scattered here and there. The power in the house had went out hours earlier, and the room had been lit by the few candles her mother had laid out. Yui hadn't cared about the dark, as she was quite good at seeing in it, but the thunder bothered her, since she had heard a story a week ago on the news about a tree crashing down into a house after it had been hit. Her mother had warned her to stay away from windows if the weather was dangerous. Plus, the noise scared her, it was just too loud, making her heartbeat go up every time it startled her. Every single time she was starting to doze off, it would hit again, sounding like a sledgehammer striking something angrily.

Since sleep seemed to be evading her, her mother had decided to make Yui her special hot chocolate, hoping she would calm down enough to conk out. She began stroking her daughters hair, while telling her a pleasant story about a place called Alfheim.

Yui listened intently, as her mother spoke about the pixies, The World Tree, and all the different kinds of creatures that lived there.

"The World Tree was right in the center of Alfheim, and was absolutely gigantic, you could be a thousand miles away and still see the branches of it." Her Mama had told her, voice quietly wistful, her mind appearing to be in a different place. "You don't know the true beauty of nature until you sit under The World Trees large canopy of leaves, with the harsh sunlight filtering through them. It was positively breathtaking. It remains one of my favorite sights to this day."

Then her mom showed her an extremely old looking book, which felt like it was made with materials Yui had never touched before. She was sure none of her other books were made like this, it looked like it might have come from a different place, or another world entirely. 

Flicking carefully through the odd pages, her mother paused on one and turned the book to her. It had a very beautiful illustration of the world tree in it. "This is almost exactly what It looked like, though it doesn't do real justice to the beauty of it, and how the sunlight flickered through the leaves. It felt like a place that just proved magic really existed, it's what finally made me believe in every strange thing I saw there."

Yui had listened, awestruck by the thought of a word like that. She wished it really existed, instead of being a story her mother had made up. She had then asked her mom where she got the odd looking book, with the beautiful illustration.

"It was in with your fathers stuff..." Her moms voice trailed off. Her mama always seemed distant whenever Yui's papa was brought up, as if her mind traveled to a different place. Her mom blinked twice, reappearing from whatever world her thoughts had gone to. "Anyways, you should be getting to bed, the rain sounds like it's slowing down. I'll stay with you all night, I'll never let you be alone, okay?"

Her mother laid down on the couch with her, covering them both with the blanket that was always draped across it, and began stroking her hair again. Yui couldn't help but be a bit disappointed, her mother never talked about her dad longer than she had to, only bringing him up on a few rare occasions, and she had hoped that maybe her mom would finally tell her more tonight. But the warmth of the blanket, and the feel of her moms fingers through her hair, soon sent her to sleep, before she could ask any questions.

It had been over two years since then and another opportunity to ask about her father hadn't come up, and her mother had still refused to speak anything more about him on her own, so Yui couldn't help but be a bit curious. Still, she had great mom, who always comforted and listened to her, and put her daughter before her own needs, sacrificing so much so Yui could be happy. It didn't feel like she was could possibly be missing out on much.

'Maybe he's dead and that's why mama doesn't like to talk about him' Yui thought to herself. It made her feel horribly guilty for being so curious. Of course it would be difficult for her mother to talk about her father, if that was the case. So, Yui buried any lingering questions she might have about him, even if the curiosity was killing her, in case it upsets her mom.

Yui sighed, and got up from the her place near the window. She debated whether to read a book, as it was still quite early, the sky only looking dark from the heavy rain. She gave up on reading quickly though, her mind far too distracted to pick up any words, and decided to rest her mind a bit.

With the sound of the rain pitter pattering outside, the warmth of the gray blanket, and the memory of her moms scent, Yui mind soon calmed down and fell into an easy sleep.

~RTA-YC~

"Yui, sweetheart? Yui, wake up!"

Yui groaned as her moms voice prodded her from her dreams. Though her mom had a very lovely voice, it didn't make waking up in the morning any easier.

"Yui, I swear, If you're not up in five minutes, I'm tossing water on you!" Her mother threatened, her words not matching her soft and kindhearted voice.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Yui exclaimed, raising in a hurry. She knew her mother would make good on her promise. Her mother, Asuna was very excited, though also extremely sad about today.

"Oh, so you actually managed to wake up this time? Color me surprised!" Her mom teased her as she left the room, her long chestnut hair trailing behind her, leaving the smell of her pear-scented shampoo behind.

Yui grumbled, as she got up to make her bed. Pulling the non-matching gray blanket down flat against the white comforter and sheet set, she sighed softly. Stretching when she finished, she exited the room, went down the hall to the bathroom, and took her shower.

As she finished up brushing her teeth, she heard her mom say, "I laid your clothes out on the bed, tell me if you need anything else! I hope it's okay for today."

Yui rolled her eyes at her mothers concern. She was pretty sure her mother made sure her head was still attached to her body before she was allowed to go anywhere. Her mom never let her leave the house without making sure she had everything she needed, checking and double checking what was in her backpack. Yui's teachers always questioned how she carried her bag, remarking on how heavy it was. "What exactly is in it?" they had asked, a trace if concern in their voice, clearly wondering how she was able to carry something almost half her weight.

'Oh, just a first aid kit, in case I start bleeding to death, also an umbrella, in case a hurricane starts outside, you never know, right? My lunch, cause mama doesn't trust the school lunch to be healthy enough for me, a second lunch in case I lose the first one, I mean what if I were to trip and smash my first one, or I met someone homeless and gave them my other lunch cause I'm such a nice person? A flashlight, because what if the power goes out, or I'm somewhere pitch black, and I can't see and step in some glass, or trip and fall in a fusion reactor? What would my poor mother do then? A cellphone with my mothers number on it, what if the teacher is mean to me and I have to call her? And about twenty other things!' Yui thought to herself.

Her mother always came up with items she might need, making up ridiculous reasons she would need them. She fretted constantly about her daughter leaving the house, and made sure she was prepared for any occasion, even if it was unlikely to happen.

Yui quickly got dressed in the black dress and jean pants her mother picked out and stepped out of her room, walking in front of the mirror in the hall. Scowling, she noticed her elf looking ears were out. She closed her closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to pull her magic back in. Eventually there was a flash of blue light, and a mysterious feeling washing through her body. She opened her eyes and saw she was in her human form again.

Her fairy form, wings and all, had an annoying habit of coming out while she slept. If she was just staying home it would be okay to stay like that all day, it felt more natural than her human form, anyways. But she was going to school, where the ears and the wings would definitely stand out, so blending in was required. Unfortunately, being in her human appearance for too long grew to be a bit uncomfortable after a while. Her wings started aching, and it seemed to get impossible to keep her other form in. She usually preferred to be a fairy at home, choosing to only be a human when she had to go in public.

Yui pondered her reflection for a second. She had long hair, the same shape and length as her mothers, only much darker in color. Her human self's had a more pale black, but her other one had a beautiful, pitch black color, which for some reason had a few chestnut streaks in it, if you peered closely in the sunlight. Her eyes, which she always thought were too big for her head, also changed with her appearance. Her fairy version's were almost as dark as her hair, a deep obsidian shade, but her human self had a more dark blue color. They were paired with long eyelashes, the same length as her mothers. They were shaped like her moms, as well, though it complimented her mothers better, in Yui's opinion. She also had her lips, full and pouty, a beautiful pale red color. Other than that, they really didn't look too much alike, though her mom would protest at that, and insist that she looked just like her daughter. They looked just enough like each other that they were obviously related if you look closely. But her mother had beautiful chestnut hair, that went down her back and framed her lovely face perfectly. And gorgeous cinnamon eyes that lit up when she was happy, or doing something she enjoyed. Her mothers face was delicate and lovely looking, the kind you would do a double take on, and think 'Wow, she's beautiful'. It made Yui feel jealous sometimes, she would never be anywhere close to as beautiful as her mom. They didn't even have the same skin tone, Yui's being a little darker that her mothers pale white. She wondered who she looked like. Her mother had always told her she looked a lot like her father, but she had never shown a photo of him.

"You look a lot like your dad," her mother had told her, on one of the rare moments when she spoke of him, "Except for the length of your hair, and the longer eyelashes, and the pouty lips," Yui had pouted at being called pouty, which made her mother grin. She hated being called pouty.

Now, as Yui examined herself in the mirror, she thought about her mothers words. It made her wonder what her dad truly looked like, and if she really looked just like him.

"Yui! Breakfast is ready!" Her mom called up, from the kitchen downstairs.

"Coming!" Yui called, grabbing her backpack on the way downstairs, trying not to trip in her hurry.

The kitchen had a very warm, welcoming feel, and it always smelled nice from the great food her mother was always making. It was a place you could feel right at home in, though god bless you if you got in her mothers way when she was cooking. The cabinets were a warm brown, and held the different spices and ingredients her mom used. There was a large closet near the refrigerator that held their dishes, and all the neat devices her mother prepared food with, some of which Yui had no idea what they could possibly be used for. The stovetop was a clean white, as her mother never let her kitchen look dirty for long, it was one of her favorite places to be, cooking being one of the hobbies she was best at.

Yui sat down at the wooden table and chairs, the same shade of brown as the cabinets, and sat her backpack on the ground beside her. The tablecloth was a gentle pink color, which Yui's mom had dubbed 'fairy pink'. It was one of her mothers favorite color, the other being mint green.

Yui looked at the plate her mother sat in front of her, "Hmm, eggs, bacon, and toast? Not very original for you mom," she teased her mother.

Her mother kissed her forehead softly. "Well, with it being your first day of second grade, I decided to play it safe. I just want you to be full until lunchtime." Tears began to fill her moms eyes at the reminder her only daughter was already in the second grade.

Yui was quick to distract her, she could never stand to see her mom upset, it made her start crying, too, "Well, whatever it is it tastes great as always, mom! I love it! You're the best mom ever." Yui's mom was always able to make an otherwise boring meal into something that tasted like it was made by a skilled, five star chef.

That seemed to cheer her mother up, a bit. "Well, good! As long as your okay until lunchtime!"

That made Yui roll her eyes. She swore her mother thought she was going to starve if she didn't have food in her mouth constantly. It was a good thing that her moms cooking was so tasty.

Her mother hummed as she fluttered around the kitchen, cleaning and putting away stuff as she went. Her voice never failed to put a smile on Yui's face.

"Mama, you should sing more often. Your voice is always amazing."

Her mother blushed a pretty pink, making her already beautiful appearance more lovely looking. 

"Oh, I'm not the best. I'm sure someone we know is much better than me."

"Like Seira?" Yui joked. Seira was Yui's babysitter, and had been for most of her life. Karaoke was the babysitters favorite pastime, despite the fact that her voice wasn't quite cut out for it. Yui was pretty sure the cat from her old neighborhood, Kirby, would have a much better singing voice, even though it was old and hoarse.

Her mother laughed. Seira was notoriously awful at singing. Sipping from a mint green mug, Yui's mom looked for something in one of the drawers. Finally finding the notepad she wanted, she grabbed a pen and made a few memos to herself.

When Yui finished with her food, she got up to wash her plate. She tried to make it as easy on her mom as possible. Her mother worked all day, in order to keep a roof over their heads, then did most of the chores by herself, as there was no one else to help her but Yui, who tried to do her best on them. But her mother always shadowed her and went back and cleaned the area Yui had just scrubbed, doing a better job on it, effectively ruining the reason Yui did it in the first place. She wouldn't let Yui do anything too hard, keeping the more difficult chores to herself.

"I've got it!" her mom beamed at her, and grabbed her plate, "I'll clean up today, as a present for your first day of second grade!" She acted like Yui had solved a medical mystery.

Yui smiled at her mother. "It would only take a second mom."

Her mother waved her along, "It's fine, then let me check your backpack and make sure you have everything you need for today, okay?"

Yui groaned, sensing that another five pounds were going to be added to it. What would be shoved into it next with an absurd reason from her mother?

After her mother was satisfied, and only two pounds were added, they headed outside to their silver car, and went off to Yui's school.

Her mom paused her as she was about to head inside. Her hazel eyes looked stormy. 

"Yui, promise me you'll be safe? Never leave mommy, ok?" Her moms gentle voice was full of concern. Though this question was asked a lot, the worry in her voice never lessened. 

The way her mom always asked her to be safe, and the way she made her promise not to leave made Yui wonder if her dad really was dead. Her heart ached for her mother, unable to imagine her grief if so. She couldn't comprehend how it would be, losing the love of her life - for her father appeared to be it for her mother, as she still had a longing look in her eyes whenever she spoke of him - and having to send her only daughter away everyday, who looked just like him, with the intense fear of losing her the same way. It must be terrible on her mother, the worry being in the back of her mind, having to focus on her work. 

She remembered an incident, when she had injured her wings the night before, she had decided to force herself to attend school, even as the pain made her want to vomit. She had eventually gave up, and practically crawled to the nurses office, begging to go home. The nurse had called her moms work number so Yui could talk to her, and put it on speaker phone. The amount of panic in her mothers voice when the school nurse had said, 'Yui is in a lot of pain, could you come get her?' had made her wish she had put up with her injury. 

"Of course I'll be safe mama, and of course I'll come home, you know I'd miss your cooking too much! I'll be fine!" Yui made her words teasing, hoping to make her mom feel mote at ease. 

Her mother smiled, "Alright Yui, as long as you come home, mama will always have the best meals waiting for you!" Her mother sounded slightly happier, though still a bit worried. She wished she knew the right words to say to her mother, to get her not to worry. 

"You know I'm just teasing mama, of course I'd miss you, and not your meals! I love you, mommy." Though she would miss her moms snacks as well. The 'mommy' was to get to her moms sweet side. She tried not to say 'mommy' too much anymore, trying to appear older, but she knew her mom loved to hear it. 

That seemed to cheer her mother up finally. "I love you too, Yui. So much. Alright, head in to school now! I don't want to make you late." Her mother still sounded like she'd rather Yui stay home, but she hoped she'd be okay. 

Yui took one last good look at her mothers beautiful face, and went in.

~RTA,YC~

Mrs. Raye, her new teacher, finished up the story she had been telling them. "Now, that we're done with the chapter, why don't we save the rest for tomorrow? Why don't we talk about ourselves a little?" She had them say their name and three things about themselves.

A boy with red hair and freckles said, "I'm Kaito, my favorite colors red, and I want to surf like my older brother someday." Kaito told them about all the trophies his brother had won. He showed off a shark tooth necklace his brother had given him, claiming that he had wrestled it from a actual shark, something that Yui doubted very much.

One by one the introduced themselves, then a girl to the right of Yui introduced herself as Yuki.

"Um, my names Yuki, I like to draw, uh, I like to dance, I guess, um, and also I live in a orphanage." Her words quieted down at that last part. Yuki was actually kind of pretty, with her hair a unique shade Yui had never seen before. It was a weird shade of black that looked almost purple. Yui noticed she was wearing mostly purple as well. It appeared to be the girls favorite color.

"Thats very nice, dear," Mrs Raye said, and asked about what she liked to draw.

Yui thought about what the girl had said, how she lived in an orphanage. That meant her parents were likely dead, or otherwise unable to care for her. It made Yui wonder about her own dad, and if he was alive, or not. Her mom had never said he died, but she never talked about him much either.

'If he's alive, then where is he?' She wondered. What had caused him to leave? Surely it had nothing to do with her friendly and kindhearted mom, who was nice to everyone, even if they didn't deserve it. She couldn't see anybody, ever, being angry with her, her mother was too good of person for that. Maybe it was because of Yui herself. Maybe he didn't want a daughter, and decided to leave her mom because of it. That made Yui feel incredibly guilty. Of course her mother would have and take care of her daughter at the cost of her own happiness. That's just the type of person she was. She loved her daughter immensely, proving it by giving up so much for her. She would never sacrifice Yui for anything.

As Yui tried to ignore the direction her thoughts had taken her, she noticed the teacher had been calling her name.

"Yui? You seem distracted, do you mind telling us about yourself?"

"Oh! Sorry, um, my names Yui, I like reading stories, sleeping, and eating mamas food!" Yui realized she had sounded lame, but she didn't care much. She was never able to stay friends with anyone for long anyways.

Her teacher seemed amused by her. "Well, that's nice Yui, does anybody else have something to say?"

A couple of other kids spoke up, and told them about the cool things they had done that summer, before the bell rang, signaling recess time.

Mrs. Raye led them outside, to the playground, that was located next to the school. It had the traditional playground equipment, with swings, the usual slightly rusted metal chains and black seats, a slide, which was a faded yellow color, and monkey bars. The rest wasn't out of the ordinary either.  
Yui's favorite thing to play on was the swing, but it reminded her of a bad memory, of before she was in school, and she had lived at her old house.

~RTA,YC~

Yui had been only four, and she didn't yet understand that most people didn't have elf ears, or wings, to her they were normal, maybe even more normal than her human form. She knew her mother had told her to keep them hidden, but she didn't quite understand why. Yui thought It was just a rare, or unique gift, not strange, or weird, or something that could put her in trouble.

Yui had went to the swings, while her mom sat on a park bench a little ways away, looking up occasionally to check on her daughter. She noticed a brown haired boy on the swing beside her, dressed in a red and blue coat. It had gotten colder, as they were nearer to winter, and even she was decked out in all her winter gear. Her mother had bought her a pink coat, but she wasn't too fond of it, preferring darker colors. Her favorite color was black, but her mother always seemed bothered if she showed preference to that color, it appeared to upset her for some reason.

Yui sat down on one of the seats and launched herself off the ground, the chains on her swing clattering a bit. As she got into the familiar motions of swinging, she was soon going higher than the boy next to her. Swinging and being in the air was like second nature to her, she was not the kind of person to be scared of heights. Going up in the air felt lovely, and she imagined herself flying up amongst the clouds. That was a great daydream to have.

"Hey! How are you going so high? I'm never able to get that high up!" The brown headed boy next to her asked, startling her out of her daydreaming.

"I don't know, just swing your legs like this!" Yui kicked her feet, and went a little higher. It was incredibly easy to her, she didn't have to even think to do it.

"I can't!" The boy exclaimed, kicking his feet awkwardly, and looking frustrated. His kicks were uneven and made his swing change directions a little bit.

"Well, I don't know, it's easy for me!" Yui yelled to him. And it was, she felt she could go even higher, if she wanted to. She wished she could go up until she reached the stars. Her mother probably wouldn't like that, though.

The boy made a sound of annoyance, as he kicked his legs out, one at a time, instead of both like Yui had shown him.

She decided he was hopeless, as he looked even older than her and didn't even know how to swing correctly! She continued swinging for a couple more minutes, then did her favorite 'trick', one she knew her mother wouldn't approve of.  
Looking back to make sure her mother wasn't paying attention to her, she jumped off the swing. But she didn't begin falling down immediately, Instead she floated for a while, not quite flying, before gently landing on her feet, much slower than she should have. She looked around and saw that nobody was looking, not even her mother, so she. Shouldn't get in any trouble for it. Only the boy next to her saw.

"Hey, what was that!" He shouted. "You looked like you were flying for a second!"

Yui immediately looked behind her, to her mom. She didn't know why she had to keep her wings and fairy self hidden, only that her mother wanted her to. But technically she hadn't used them, she had instead used her 'feelings' to float for a bit. 

Yui sometimes got these 'feelings', like a warmth flowing through her, that made her able to do special things, things her mom wasn't able to do. Like when the cookie jar had been set up to high for her to reach, and she hadn't been able to fly that high up, her wings out of practice, she had gotten frustrated and felt warmth flood through the palms of her hand. She had used the 'warmth', and the jar had gently floated down, safely into her hands. Yui's mother hadn't understood how she got it down at first, until Yui had told her. Additionally, once when she was three, she had fallen off her little training bike, and had a big gash on her head. Her mother had been sobbing, apologizing for not catching her, and was one second away from rushing her to the hospital, when, in Yui's upset over the pain, the 'magic feeling' rushed to the cut on her head. Her mother had gasped, and Yui had felt the hurt slowly disappear, until it was a gentle ache. Asuna had wetted a paper towel, and blotted at her baby's forehead, until the deep gash was revealed. But it wasn't a deep cut anymore, instead it looked like it was several hours old, and was nowhere near large or deep enough to cause the bleeding that had happened before. Yui had healed it accidentally with her magic. Asuna had been stunned, and quiet for the rest of the day, looking as if her mind was in a different place entirely. Yui's mom had told her she was only allowed to do that at home. But she just couldn't understand why.

Couldn't somebody else do this? There had to be other people, otherwise why on earth would Yui be that special? It didn't make sense for only her to be able have special powers, she wasn't anything unique, she wasn't super smart or strong, she couldn't even use her powers sometimes, there was no way it was just her that could do stuff like this. She wasn't smart or brave enough for it, there was no way she deserved it over someone else, someone like her mother would be better with them, and deserve them more than she did. Maybe it was a rare ability instead, and other people would get sad or jealous that they couldn't do it, maybe that's why her mom said not to do it in public.

It was just like her mother to consider other people's feelings, Asuna was always kind to everybody, even if they were rude to her. She only was ever angry if someone hurt Yui. So maybe it would be okay if she told just one person other than her mom. Surely that would be okay. This boy next to her didn't seem mean, so it was probably safe, right?

"If I am concentrating really hard, I can sort of float off the ground a little bit, watch!" Yui pushed the 'warm feeling' from earlier to her feet, and hovered above the ground by a few inches. It took less work to use her actual wings, though. The 'feeling' that healed her head among other things left her a bit exhausted after use, for some reason. She probably just had to practice more.

The boys eyes got wide, and he gawked up at Yui. "How are you doing that?!" He demanded.

"I don't know, I've always been able to do this, just try to search for this warm or tingly feeling, and push yourself up." She explained. She landed back on the ground smoothly, though she hadn't pushed herself that high up, only enough to demonstrate.

The boy slowed his swing and stood up. He tried to follow Yui's directions, and he scrunched his face up in concentration. But no matter how hard he tried, or Yui tried to help him, he couldn't do it. 

Yui tried to show him how to levitate a rock instead, thinking it would be easier than his body, but he couldn't do that either.

"Well, whatever then, you must be a freak, nobody else can do that, you're probably just evil or something!" He yelled at her, clearly upset, then pushed her down, and ran off to see his mom.

Yui's eyes filled with tears, he had seemed so nice at first, what had happened? Why was he so mean? She hadn't meant to make him jealous, she just wanted to share something about herself with a friend, and it had all gone wrong. Why was she so stupid? Her mother had told her and she hadn't listened, this was all her fault. Is this why her mom said to only do that at home? Would everyone act that way if they found out? Was she really a freak?

"Yui!" Her mom called frantically, having seen her daughter get shoved by the angry boy. "Did he hurt you!? I'm so sorry, mommy should have been watching better."

"It's okay mom, I tried to show him how to float in the air, and he got angry that he couldn't do it too." Tears were falling down Yui's face, and her sentence was interrupted by hiccups.

Asuna's face went pale. "Yui! I told you not to show anybody! We have to leave right now!"

She grabbed Yui's arm, and hurriedly rushed them towards the parking lot. As they were getting in the car, Yui heard the boy who had pushed her yelling to his mom.

"She was lifting a rock up with her mind, and was flying in the air, she must be a witch or something! What a freak! Is she evil, mom? Why can she do that?"

Yui heard the boys mom tell her son that of course witches didn't exist and that he must of imagined it. The boy protested, saying he had really seen her fly. His mother laughed at her son, thinking he just had a wild imagination. Yui tuned them out, and her mom drove them home.

As her mom unlocked the door, Yui began rushing upstairs, when her moms hand on her arm stopped her.

"Yui, you can never show anybody that again, alright? Only at home and in front of mama, okay? It's not safe for you."

Yui sniffled a little and said, "I understand mom, I won't do it again, I didn't expect anyone to get angry at me. I just wanted to make a friend."

Asuna smiled sadly at her daughter, "it's not just that people will get angry, it's that somebody could hurt you because of it. Nobody else can do it, as far as they know, and they might try to hurt you, and take you away from mama because of it."

Yui was shocked, "I thought that people would just be jealous I didn't think they would try to take me away from you!" She was horrified, someone would actually take her from her mother because of that? She wouhld never use her powers again, not if she had to say goodbye to her mother. She wanted to stay with her mom always. They didn't have any other family, so her mother would be all alone if Yui left. That couldn't happen, her mother needed her like she needed her mother. They were a tiny, but close family, and nothing should be allowed to separate them.

Her mother looked sad, "Yui, unfortunately, most people wouldn't just be jealous, they might be afraid, and fear makes people act horrible sometimes. So you must never do that in public again, alright? Mommy loves you, she's not doing this to be mean, she cares about you, okay?"

"I understand, mom!" Yui's mom hadn't acted mad, but she never took her to that park again. Yui stopped being so excited about her powers. Whenever she made friends from now on, she grew upset that she couldn't be honest with them, and started pushing them away. They would probably hate her if they found out anyway, she told herself.

~RTA,YC~

Yui shook her head, now was not the time to think about stuff like that, she knew better than to show people now, so nobody had any reason to dislike her. Surely she could make friends this year, as long as she avoided thinking about what she couldn't say. Why couldn't she just be herself with someone, why did she have to be weird? Maybe that's why her father had left, because he didn't want a freak daughter. She didn't blame him.

Shaking off her dark thoughts, she decided to try the monkey bars, for now, so headed over to them. The monkey bars had no negative memory attached to them, so they should be safe, right? Looking over at them she saw the girl in her class who sat next to her earlier, Yuki, who lived in an orphanage, standing by them. She was frowning slightly, as if her own thoughts were busy with unpleasant things. Her purpley black hair was in a ponytail, and she had on a lavender top, with a silver star on it. She looked rather lonely, subtly looking at the other kids playing around her, as if she wanted to join in, but didn't know how. It reminded Yui of the separation she sometimes felt from everyone else. She decided to take pity on her, and see if she wanted a friend. Maybe, she could help Yui, too.

"Hey!" Yui spoke to her, accidentally startling the poor girl by talking to loudly.

Yuki looked surprised someone was talking to her. "Oh! Hey."

"I'm Yui. You're Yuki, right?" Yui decided to tell her her name again, in case she forgot. She hadn't really paid the most attention earlier, having already decided everyone would eventually hate her. She wished she had tried harder to be friendlier.

"Oh, yeah, I'm Yuki, did you need something?" Yuki, for some odd reason, looked like Yui was going to yell at her. It made Yui frown, was orphanages as bad as everybody had said they were? She had thought that was just for movies, but maybe they actually were awful. It made her appreciate her mom more. Maybe Yuki needed friendship even more than she did. She became determined to be Yuki's friend.

"No, I was just wondering, maybe, did you want to be my friend?"

Yuki looked shocked at her words again. "Are you sure!? Why?" She looked like it was absurd for anyone to want to be nice to her. Yui wondered, was it the orphanage or the kid at school that caused her to be like that? She knew kids her age were more than able to be mean, the boy on the swing being proof of that, and any thing that was different or odd would be looked down on. It might be the other children that made Yuki think like this.

"Of course. And, I just moved here after last school year, and everyone here seems to know each other already, so they don't want anymore friends. And I saw you weren't talking to anyone, so I thought maybe you could hang out with me. If you want to be alone, that's fine, I'm sorry to bother you, I can leave you by yourself if you want. I can go now." Maybe she was wrong, and Yuki didn't want to make friends. She was a bit crushed.

"No, no! I was just shocked, I wasn't expecting anyone to want to talk to me on my first day here, thats all. I don't really make friends with people that easy, so it surprised me. I'm painfully shy, actually." She seemed panicked, like Yui would change her mind if she didn't speak fast enough.

"So, friends then?" Yui asked.

"Yeah, okay then." She smiled shyly.

They played together the rest of recess, Yui showing off how good she was at climbing on top of the monkey bars. Yuki was able to get up beside her, ending Yui's smugness. Yui was surprised at how much she enjoyed spending the day with Yuki, it made her excited for tomorrow. Maybe she could actually keep a friend this time!

It would surely make her mother happy, who was worried Yui didn't have enough friends. Maybe it would stop the play dates her mother set her up with. 'That would be the day' Yui thought sarcastically.

~RTA,YC~

The rest of the day was quite uneventful. Her mother of course made her tell her all about her day, pestering her when she had said 'nothing, really happened', and asked if she had made any friends. When asked about the lunch at school, she apologized for forgetting to make Yui take hers. Yui had left it, on the kitchen table, and by the time Asuna noticed, when she got off work, it was already almost time to pick Yui up from school. After making snide comments on the lunch the school had provided, her mother stated she would make it from now on. Yui almost groaned as she thought about her mother checking her backpack a hundred times to make sure she had it.

Yui turned into her fairy form when she got in the house, wanting to relax the rest of the day. After dinner, she cuddled up to her mother on the couch, and they watched some dumb, and probably fake, gameshow.

A couple hours later, her mother told her to get ready for bed. Yui was now brushing her combing her hair in her bathroom upstairs. She brushed her teeth, and changed into her black nightgown. She thought about her new friend, and what school would be like tomorrow. She grew excited at the thought of being in school for the first time in a long time.

Closing her eyes, Yui soon fell asleep. 

~RTA,YC~


	2. School days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An: I'm looking for a beta reader so please tell me if you're interested. 
> 
> Enjoy!

School days 

Yui woke up the next morning without her mothers prodding. That was a rare occurrence for her. She wasn't lazy, per se, she just wasn't the easiest to get up. When she was up though, she was rather hyperactive, not in a misbehaving way, but a bubbly way. Her mother said she couldn't keep up with her. Her hyper-activeness was interrupted by short cat-naps throughout the day. Her mother liked to tease her about the odd places she'd find to sleep, as Yui would rather find a comfortable nook to sleep in than trek up to her room. Some of the areas she slept in amused her mother to no end.

She could hear light rain hitting the roof. It appeared the rainy week would continue, something Yui wasn't complaining about. The rain made her mood improve, contrary to what most people felt. She didn't know why, but the rain made her feel as if something mysterious was about to happen, perhaps from all the books she read, where the weather was used for foreshadowing. She wondered briefly if she would be able to fly in the downpour, though she was forbidden to fly outside by her mother. In fictional books and movies, well fictional as far as she knew, a lot of the time flight was hindered by water. She wished she could test it out. 

Yui sighed and once again wondered why she had to keep her true self hidden. Was she really the only one like this? There had to be more, but where were they? She remembered when her mother had finally told her that Alfheim was real, not just a story she had made up. She had said that her father was also like her, a fairy, and that the rest of her relatives on her dads side were also like them. Technically, that made Yui half-fairy, as her mother had confirmed she was a human. She had told Yui that fairies originated from Alfheim, and that's where most of them lived. She hadn't said where Yui's father was now, if she even knew, just that most beings from the other world preferred to live there. It made Yui frustrated, where the heck was this magical place exactly? What kept humans from finding it? She knew now that most people had no idea the other world existed, and it made her curious why the people from Alfheim wanted to keep it a secret. Would humans react that negatively? Her mother seemed to not mind that she was only half human, she had even had a kid with a fairy, so why couldn't more people be like her mom? Maybe they had a different reason entirely, something other than fear. She couldn't imagine what that could possibly be, though. 

She wondered if the people of Alfheim looked down on humans, and what they felt about half beings, such as herself. The magic she could do wasn't that impressive, and she could imagine that if she had grown up in the other realm, she might be stronger. She bet that someone older than her could do much more brilliant things, with better finesse. So it would be no surprise if they thought humans were beneath them, they must look quite weak in comparison. What would they think of someone like Yui, who was half? Human and fairy relations must be rare, as nobody else she had met, had either heard of actual fairies, thinking them myths, or was one themselves. Perhaps it was looked down on in Alfheim if you married a human, or had a kid with one, and that's why her father had abandoned them. Maybe she was an accident and he had never intended to stay with her mother in the first place. It made her sick to imagine someone thinking her mother was not worth anything just because she was human. Her mother was better than anyone else, human or fairy. Someone who sacrificed their own meal so their daughter could be fed instead, who worked herself to exhaustion so their child had a roof over their head, who kept their daughter when it would have been so much easier to get rid of her, was far superior than the strongest or rarest magic in the world, according to Yui, anyways. If that's why her father left, he could stay gone. Her mother deserved better. 

'But', Yui thought, 'I have no proof, he could have left for another reason, I have no idea why, so I can't judge him'. Even though her instincts told her to be angry at someone who had hurt her mother, and her mother was so obviously hurt, looking like she was barely able to hold herself together sometimes, she knew she couldn't hate him, not yet anyways, not until she knew for sure. 

Even though she told herself it was to be fair, she knew the real reason she didn't want to hate her dad. She was still hopeful that one day he would come home.

She remembered her sixth birthday party and the present she had bought her dad. Her mother had thought it was for herself until she told her. 'I made it for daddy, so that if he finally comes home, maybe he'll be proud of me and he'll stay, and then you can be happy again, mama. You always look so sad, and I thought if daddy stays you'll be happy, does daddy make you happy, mommy?' Her mom had started crying, making her feel guilty for speaking. After wailing out some things that somehow made Yui even more unsure if her dad was dead, the gift Yui got him went in the back of a cabinet, and wasn't mention unless it was a special occasion. But it had confirmed to Yui one thing, her mother would be happier if her dad was home. So, she wanted him back, for her mom. She didn't think, if someone as kindhearted and caring as her mother loved him, that he could possibly be a bad person. Surely, if her mother had grown to love him, he had some redeeming qualities. No, he must have loved her mother, she couldn't bare the thought of her mother not being loved back as much as she loved him. It crushed her to think he might have felt nothing for her. 

Faint rustling interrupted her darkening thoughts, the sound of a pan scraping against something could be heard from the kitchen, Her mom was up, and would probably check on her in a few minutes, to wake her up. She probably had time to rest for a few seconds, as her mom finished breakfast. She strongly considered going back to sleep, but she remembered her new found friend, Yuki, and grew excited for school. Maybe, a warm shower would improve her mood. It wouldn't do to sink into depression for today, best to turn her thoughts around. 

She got up and left her room, yelling to her mother that she was getting ready. A warm shower, and clean teeth later, she got dressed in the clothes her mom had laid out for her. A black top with pink hearts on it, and jean pants. It was still rainy out, so skirts or shorts were not able to worn, at least until the weather dried up. Feeling the need to be close to her mother, she styled her hair like hers, half-braided. Her mother definitely pulled it off better, really her mother could wear a trash bag and still look beautiful, but Yui hoped that she at least looked a little nice. Was it too much to ask, to inherit at least some of her mothers beauty? 

Heading down to the kitchen, the smell of maple syrup permeated the air. Her mother was working over the stove, her chestnut hair in a bun, and her cinnamon eyes sparkling. It made Yui happy to watch her mother cook, as she was usually in a good mood if she was. Seeing her mom be truly upbeat was a rare occurrence, her real happiness seemed stolen long ago, before Yui was either born, or old enough to remember. It made her upset sometimes, that she couldn't be that person for her mother, the one that knew just what to say, to make her mom see that she didn't need to be sad, she was a lovely person who deserved to be happy, and if her father couldn't see what he had lost, he wasn't worth it. But, whenever her dad was brought up, Yui always seemed to make it worse, usually ending with her mother crying, and looking depressed for the next few days. Yui wasn't the best with words, often times putting her foot in her mouth, so she failed at making her mother better. It sucked, because if anyone deserved to be happy with life, then it was her mother, who had done so much for her. 

"Smells good, mom." Yui commented, her words coming out slightly shaky from her previous thoughts, before sitting down at the table, and pouring herself a drink. She coughed quietly to clear her throat. The last thing she needed was for her mom to be worried for her. 

"Thanks honey! Did you pack everything you need for school?" Her mom asked as she made Yui's plate for her. 

"Yes, mom." Yui rolled her eyes at her mother, before taking a bite out of her pancakes. Mmm, with blueberry bits just the right size, and the right amount of syrup, the pancakes tasted heavenly. As always, no corrections needed to be made on her mothers meal. Sipping on her milk, Yui began blowing bubbles through the straw, something that irritated her mother. She didn't let it over flow on the table, so she didn't get what the big deal was. 

"I'm just making sure, and stop playing with your drink. Do you remember what happened last time that you forgot your project for school?" Her mother raised her eyebrow at her. 

Taking the straw from her mouth, Yui frowned. Her mama had had to leave work early, and pick it up from home, before dropping it off at Yui's school. It was something Yui had worked really hard on, and she had been eager to give her presentation. She couldn't believe she had forgotten it. That wouldn't have been so bad by itself, but her mothers job at the time had been fragile, and if she lost it, Yui and her would be on the streets. Her boss had warned her that that was the last day she could miss, one more and she'd have to find another job. Yui didn't have any family besides her mom, not any that she had met anyways, so there was nobody to give them a place to stay, or help them out if her mom lost her place of work. One more missed day, and she would lose her job, and they were struggling to get by as it was. The job barely covered enough for them to keep a roof over their head, pay off the bills, and keep themselves fed. It wasn't rare for the power or water to be shut off, though it was paid off as soon as it could. They had very little emergency funds, definitely not enough to live for any extended periods of time. Luckily, her mom had found somewhere else to work, that was a lot more understanding of her changing schedule. They had moved to be closer for Asuna's job. It still didn't pay the best, but it was at least a little better than before. 

"I know, mom." Yui quieted down at the reminder, thinking about how sad her mother had been back then. She hated the thought of her mother being upset, and made every step she could to avoid it. 

To say her mothers job hadn't paid well was a understatement, and with no husband or family to help with bills or groceries, or other necessities, they often went hungry. Yui remembered when they were eating only one meal a day. She had felt guilty for being fed an extra meal at school, while her mother ate less. Since they were low income, Yui's lunch was free. She wished her mother was fed, too. Utilities were also shut off semi-often, though they were always paid off as soon as her mother could. Yui's mom often went hungry, choosing to feed Yui over herself. Rather than rationing the food equally, Asuna made sure her daughter had extra. With a horribly paying job, that didn't pay for bills or food properly, let alone anything else, it was hard to stay positive. Her mother had sank into a depression, and Yui wasn't that far behind. They had mostly turned that around, and hopefully it stayed that way. 

"What are you frowning about? You're going to make me nervous about sending you to school." Yui's mother sounded anxious. It was true that her mother was her only relative, at least that she knew about, but it was also true the other way around. Her daughter was the only thing Asuna had, and she cared about her immensely. It was more than understandable why her mother was so concerned. She would be, too. Though she complained about it, she secretly loved how much her mother worried about her, for the most part. She felt the same about her mom, the feeling was more than returned. 

"It's fine, mama." Yui waved her mother off. Asuna's boss might be more agreeable than the last, but she still couldn't afford to leave work often. And her mother would definitely take time off if she asked her to. 

"Well, cheer up then, otherwise mommy will worry about you." 

Yui winced at the anxiety in her mothers voice, and pushed her bad thoughts away. beaming at her mom she said, "Did you make me lunch for today? Or will i have to get the school lunch?"

"Of course! It will be much healthier than the lunch the school provides, and will taste better, too! I don't like the crud they serve at school, I thought they were supposed to encourage kids to eat healthy but..."

Yui didn't really care about the 'healthier' part, she only cared about the 'tastes good' part. She tuned the rest of her mothers words out. She pick up a few fragments like, 'you're a growing girl and you don't need to be served sludge, I don't know how...', 'I'll look up what kind of vitamins you'll need online, that way...'. It was best to stop her mother before she got on a roll. 

"That sounds nice, mom." Yui said, cutting her off, before finishing the rest of her breakfast. Picking up her plate, she began washing it before her mom could insist she leave it again. 

She put her plate and cup in the cabinet, and tried to avoid looking at a certain item in the back of it. The one cup, that she had painted herself, the mug she had made for that one person. She knew her mother avoided it, too. Her sixth birthday had had a bad ending, one full of tears, and she tried not to think of what her mother had looked like for the next few weeks afterward. It had brought on a new tradition, but now was not the day for that. 

"Mommy...", she said, hopping down from the counter, "I love you, you know? I wish I could do more to show that."

"Oh, Yui. I love you too, sweetie. You don't have to do anything honey, I'm the mom, it's my job to take care of you, not the other way around. You're fine." She wrapped her arms around her daughter and crushed her to her. They stayed like that for awhile, too comfortable to leave. Eventually, they had to leave for Yui's school, but the day looked considerably brighter. 

~RTA,SD~

 

Being only the second day of the school year, no real class work was done, instead it was only introductions and easy reminders of the things they had learnt the previous year. The real schoolwork would begin later, something Yui was sort of looking forward to. Yui was very smart for her age, and her teachers had suggested seeing if she should skip a grade in a year or two to her mom on more than one occasion. Well, that was only half true. Asuna had told her that fairies minds worked a little faster than humans, their magic making their mental capacity exceeding that of non-magical beings. So technically, Yui was only smart for a human her age. She wondered if she would be considered dumb in Alfheim. Not that it should bother her, as long as she had a kind heart she didn't care if they thought her dumb, but as she went through her school years she had always been considered bright, so it would be a bit of a bummer if she was secretly really stupid to a whole world. She shifted awkwardly in her chair. 

They were given a worksheet, with instructions to complete what they could, testing what they had absorbed from last year. It wasn't supposed to be completed, but Yui almost got finished with hers. Her friend, Yuki, came second, almost beating her at completing more, which surprised her. She chastised herself for thinking that. She didn't want to become rude or snobby and assume she was automatically smarter than someone, just because they were human. She would hate it if someone thought that about her mom, so she didn't want to behave like that either. 

"Alright! We're done with that for now." Her teacher, Mrs. Raye told the class. 

"But I wasn't finished, yet!" A boy sitting across from Yui exclaimed. When he frowned, his face scrunched up, making the freckles on his face more apparent. She thought he was kind of cute, for a boy. 

The teacher smiled kindly at him. "You are supposed to finish what you can, you aren't meant to complete it all."

Still, Yui frowned, if she had had a few more minutes she probably could have finished it. Yui might not look like it, but she was actually quite competitive, something she had got from her mother. She decided that completing most of it was good enough. Besides, it was best not to call attention to her abilities, as most of them were odd compared the normal person. It was probably better for her to dumb herself down. She sighed, already bored as she thought of the future schoolwork for this year. 

The bell rung, making her jump, dismissing them for recess. So much for superior intelligence, being startled by a bell. 

Yui thought, being one of the last ones out, that Yuki had gone on ahead of her, but she was standing on the edge of the playground, looking unsure. Her lilac jacket hung ill fittingly from her shoulders, it looked like it might have belonged to someone else before her. 

"Hey, Yuki! Did you want to play together again today?" Yui was hopeful that they would become good friends, though she was still a bit hesitant. How close could they become, if Yui had to always keep the most important thing about herself hidden?

Yuki looked startled for a second, before relief showed on her face, "I wasn't sure if you would want to play with me, I'm pretty shy sometimes, so I don't have many friends."

"That's okay, I don't really have many friends, either." Yui wasn't shy, per se, but she hadn't exactly been encouraged to make friends since that day on the swing set. It stayed in the back of her mind, that Yuki could eventually act the same way, which she tried desperately to ignore. 

She never had trouble making friends, but she struggled with keeping them. Always becoming sad she couldn't share all her secrets with them, she pushed them all away eventually, even if she tried not to. It got depressing, to feel like even if she could share her secret, they would hate her for it, and think she was a freak or dangerous. She would just have to accept that she couldn't tell Yuki everything about herself, otherwise she would start to push her away, like she did everyone except her mom. Maybe, making friends with Yuki would be the good, fresh start she needed to keeping friends, finally. Even though she would never admit it to her, her mother was right, she was extremely lonely. But she didn't see the need to tell her mom that, when there wasn't much she could do about it. Unless she could find someone who knew the secret of Alfheim, Yui had nobody but her who she could be completely honest with. 

They headed over to the swings and tried to see who could go higher. Yuki actually won that one, again surprising Yui. They settled down to a slow pace, and began talking about their families. 

"Well, I don't have a dad, but my moms pretty awesome, she works as a florist, so our house always smells good from all the flowers and stuff she brings home. She brought home these roses that had been modified to look like they're blue. Did you know roses don't come naturally in that color, and that most are dyed that color? She's a really good cook too, and can make anything taste delicious, even healthy food. She has a really nice voice, so she's always good at telling me stories and singing me to sleep. She always knows how to make me feel better. Other than that I don't have any other family." Yui felt guilty, suddenly remembering that Yuki didn't have any family, not even a loving mom. She knew that she would feel bad if someone talked about how awesome their dad was, and make her feel ashamed about her own. She regretted being so eager to talk about her mom. 

Yuki looked happy instead of sad, at Yui's words, for some reason. "Your mom sounds nice, I don't really have a mom figure, but Ami, one of the caretakers, is always nice to me, she paid special attention to me when I was sick, and made sure I was alright. She always acts concerned over everybody living at the orphanage, even the other caretakers. I hope you can meet her someday."

Yui was glad she didn't seem upset. The last thing she wanted was to upset someone about their lack of family. 

"I'd like that. I don't know the rules for visiting though, do you have to sign in or something?" 

"Well, you have to call first, at the very least. Some days, like certain holidays, visiting isn't allowed, but for the most part you can come by whenever you want. Just don't stay over too long or too late. Visiting hours close at 9:00 for the younger kids and at 10:30 for fifteen and up." Yuki winced like she said something wrong. "Sorry I guess it's kinda lame, having so much rules, I can understand if you don't want to come now."

"No, it's fine! Mama wouldn't want me out of the house too late anyway, 9:00 is probably too late for her. And I think it's considered rude to just go over to someone's house without letting them know beforehand, at least it should be. Your rules don't seem too strict, I think most normal homes have the same guidelines. Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you when I said normal, I wasn't thinking! I'm so sorry!" Yui waved her arms in panic. It was just like her, to say something stupid like that. 

Yuki giggled at her friends panic. She considered pretending that she was upset for a while, just to mess with her, but decided not to at the honest distress on Yui's face. "It's fine! I know what you mean. And besides, living in an orphanage isn't really normal, I mean most people live with someone they're related to, at least an aunt or something if their parents are unavailable. Most people's home lives are different from mine, I imagine."

"If you're sure you're not upset?" Yui's face was blushing a 'fairy' pink color, an embarrassing feature she had got from her mom. 

Yuki frowned for a second, just to play with her, before grinning. "Oh, believe me, I've heard worse things about myself before."

Yui started to ask 'like what?', but decided not to. She directed them over to the slide, hoping to distract from the awkward moment. 

Seeing the graying yellow color reminded her of something. "Oh, I have a really stupid memory of me injuring myself on one of these."

"How did you injure yourself on a slide, of all places!?" Yuki shook her head at her friend. Though very nice, Yui seemed to be a bit of a dits.

"I was trying to show off, a couple of older kids were going down backwards, and I tried to as well. I hit my head on the ground when I landed. My mom wouldn't let me play on it the rest of summer." She probably could have caught herself, if she was allowed to use her wings. As it was her injury didn't last that long, thanks to her healing abilities. 

Yuki tried to cover up her giggle at her friends misfortune. 

They ate together at lunch time, and Yui shared some of the food her mother made her. That seemed to cheer Yuki up, who was used to the food the orphanage provided, and the unsatisfying in comparison, school lunches. Yui showed off the cute little lunch box her mother had got her. 

"You actually get filled up from that? It looks so tiny!" 

Yui nodded. "It fits more food in it than you think, mom has one too. The creators have a bigger version, but me and mom never manage to fill it up, so we just stick to the smaller one."

"I wish I had one." Yuki sighed. 

Yui bounced her feet awkwardly, unsure what to say. They did have an extra one at home, the bigger one her mom had tried out. But, the orphanage had Yuki and the others eat the school lunch, so it would probably go to waste. She decided not to offer it. 

The rest of the school day past uneventfully, with no homework to be done, not that Yui was complaining. Yui looked outside the classroom window, and saw that the sky looked stormy. She hoped that meant rain, not thunder. Mrs. Raye led them outside, supervising their exit from school. 

Near the parking lot of the school, Yui tried to introduce Yuki to her mother. 

"Do you want to meet my mom? She's right over there!" Yui pointed to where her mom was getting out of her car. She felt something wet hit her eyelash, and saw it was lightly misting rain. 

"No, thanks, Yui, I don't have enough time right now. Caretaker Ami's waiting for me. She won't want to wait in the rain for too long." Yuki pointed to where she was. 

Yui thought she looked nervous to meet her mother, not that she didn't have enough time. She remembered Yuki had said she was shy at first, so she decided not to push her too hard. 

"Okay, well, if you're sure?" Yui asked her. 

"Maybe another day." Yuki ran off to her caretaker. 

The rain increased to a drizzle, so Yui's mother was quick to get her under an umbrella, like she would catch a cold immediately if she didn't. She made sure Yui was covered completely until she was in the car. 

"Did you have a nice day at school? Who was that girl you were talking to?" Her mother asked as she pulled out of the parking lot. The windshield wipers were on a low setting, but Yui always found it interesting to watch. One of the games she played by herself was to find a raindrop near the top of her window and see if it could make it's way all the way down, before being absorbed by another drop. 

She told her mother about her day, and about her friend as she looked outside her window. As soon as they got home, on exiting the car Yui was immediately covered by the umbrella again. She sighed at her mothers concern, as they went inside. 

"Tomorrow I'm going to make lunch for your new friend, okay? I can find the lunch box she liked." Asuna seemed proud when Yui told her Yuki loved her cooking. 

Yui thought of Yuki's awkwardness at the end of school. "I don't know, she might get embarrassed, I'm sure she gets a lot of pity for living in an orphanage, it might upset her." She knew she got annoyed if anyone eyed her with pity when they found out she didn't have a dad, and she imagined it must be even worse, being an orphan. Not that she got too angry at them, it just got annoying, to see the look of sympathy on their faces. 

Her mother frowned. "Well, I'll just make sure your lunch is twice as big tomorrow, then you can say you can't eat it all and share with her."

Yui rolled her eyes. Once her mother got an idea in her head, there was no stopping her, especially when it came to somebody being well fed. Even if they didn't have a lot of money themselves, her mom never passed up an opportunity to mother someone. 

They had dinner and talked about other things, and watched some TV together. Yui fell asleep cuddled up to her mom and had to be woken up. Yawning, Yui dragged herself to the bathroom and after brushing her teeth and a quick story from her mom, Yui fell fast asleep. 

~RTA,SD~

**Author's Note:**

> Please give any constructive criticism you want. I'm looking for a beta reader, so tell me if you're interested. Have fun!


End file.
